I am looking at purchasing this pistol. Looking at them on the internet, some have a manual thumb safety, some do not. Some have the red "cricle" with SAR9 in the grip, some do not. They all have the same UPC code (8587630071210, so how can you tell them apart?

I picked up the pistol today and it does NOT have the circle with"SAR9" on the grip panel AND it HAS a thumb safety. This is different than the photo in the Palmetto State Armory ad. But, what I received is what I was really hoping for. Came with 2 17 rd mags (their ad does not indicate).  I'm happy.

If anyone undervalues this gun because of it's price or where it is made, then they don't know shit. Fantastic shooter. Accurate and reliable. Go ahead and pay hundreds more, but all you will have is only a more expensive gun. Granted there are more accessories available for Glocks, etc, but I never plan on modifying it so for me that is a mute point.

While I have switched to hammer fired pistols I must admit these are the most comfortable handguns I have ever held. Out of about 20 pistols in the inventory the wife chose a bronze SAR9 as her personal weapon. They really are great.

Yes,very comfortable and a great  shooter.
I purchased 1 earlier in the  week  and I will  say I am impressed.
I am currently looking for  4-5  baseplates for it, because Sig 320 full size  magazines are the same profile.
I cut a notch on the 320 mag to match the SAR ,but I had to use the SAR baseplate but it functioned great all 17 rds.
SAR magazines seem to be sold out at most online stores.

Is the manual safety removable?

There may be a version without the manual safety. Just for my info, why do you not want it? I have a Canik TP9SF Elite that only has a trigger "safety", and quite frankly I cannot see it much of a safety (it does not take much to drop the striker if anything gets inside the trigger guard). I also have a Kahr K40 with no manual safely, but it has a long (but smooth) trigger pull so it would be difficult to accidently pull the trigger.

I have trained myself (mainly because of 1911s) to pull from holster and flip the thumb safety off, and like this feature on the SAR9.

All of my other primary pistols do not have manual safeties and I’d want to keep commonality.

At one point I was planning on getting a Glock 17. While advantages of a Glock are there are a zillion accessories one can get for them, other than mags I would keep it stock. After holding and firing this SAR 9 it removed any reasoning to get a Glock. I love this gun.

Shit I just ordered a SAR9x.
Have had a few handguns over the years, most felt like shit in my hand so down the road they went.

REALLY looking forward to this pistol, while not my favorite caliber from everything I have been seeing about it makes me really happy.

*edit*
Finally got through the shitty state system and was able to pick it up today.
Got it clean and swapped the plates out to where it feels very natural in the hand and indexes well.  All in all feels WAY more natural grip angle that my old brick ruger p90 which got traded for my gen 3 G22 which got sold off a long time ago.

Honestly the trigger so far just dry firing it a few times it is way better than both the old pistols even after their trigger jobs.

Buy two SAR mags get the third one free. Shipping flat $12.95.

https://sarusa.com/product-category/magazines/?mc_cid=ce47aa5b4d&mc_eid=4482679620

Mine arrived today.  :O)

If SHTF in Europe and Turkey gets involved I was afraid they may get hard to get.